Jo
Gartner

Josef Anton "Jo" Gartner was born in Vienna on 24 January 1954. He began racing in hillclimbs in 1976 and moved into the European Formula Super Vee championship in 1977, finishing third overall in 1978. He then competed in Formula Three in 1979 and Formula Two from 1980. In 1983 he won the Formula Two Pau Grand Prix in his own Spirit, after Alain Ferté, who had crossed the line first, was disqualified.

In 1984 Gartner contested eight Grands Prix for Osella, partnering Piercarlo Ghinzani. On his debut at the San Marino Grand Prix he retired with an engine failure. He finished 12th in the Netherlands. At Monza he crossed the line fifth, ahead of his fellow Austrian Gerhard Berger, but received no championship points because Osella had entered only one car for the championship. He therefore ended his Formula One career without a point.

After Formula One, Gartner raced Porsches in endurance events. In 1985 he finished fourth in the Le Mans 24 Hours with David Hobbs and Guy Edwards, and in 1986 he won the 12 Hours of Sebring with Bob Akin and Hans-Joachim Stuck. He was killed on 1 June 1986 in an accident on the Mulsanne Straight while driving a Kremer Porsche 962 in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Source: Wikipedia, “Jo Gartner”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.